Bulb lasagne, what to do now…

karenandjesslqEBf_sh · May 2022

I planted my first bulb lasagnes - quite a few pots - last Autumn - tulips at the bottom, daffs in the middle and dwarf iris near the surface, topped by winter pansies and violas. They’ve done beautifully! What do I do with it all when the flowering has finished - just lift the bulbs out (with their foliage) and re-plant them in the Autumn, ie put them in the garage till then? Some of the pansies also look past their best, can I rescue them too?

karenandjesslqEBf_sh · May 2022

karenandjesslqEBf_sh said:

I planted my first bulb lasagnes - quite a few pots - last Autumn - tulips at the bottom, daffs in the middle and dwarf iris near the surface, topped by winter pansies and violas. They’ve done beautifully! What do I do with it all when the flowering has finished - just lift the bulbs out (with their foliage) and re-plant them in the Autumn, ie put them in the garage till then? Some of the pansies also look past their best, can I rescue them too?

I should have added that I’d now like to use the pots to plant summer bedding

Nanny Beach · May 2022

I don't, too many pots. I tuck them away at the bottom of the garden out of site, give them a bit of feed,we use chicken pellets or tomato feed. Then ignore them till next year. Have mostly given up on the lasagna idea, along with a lot of fellow forkers, because of the messy leaves you can't cut back or tidy. Technically, some pansies will carry on flowering if you dead head,then give them a light haircut

Fairygirl · May 2022

You can leave them in situ if you want, but you might find the iris and tulips don't do so well, depending on your conditions, and what type of tulip, in particular.
It's easier to keep them in the pot and give them a feed while they die down [unless you want the pot for other plants] and then you can lift them, store, or replant somewhere accordingly. Daffs are easier, generally, than the other two for reliability, so you can just leave them in a pot outside.

Pansies can sometimes be a bit hit and miss, but you can trim them back and replant them to see if they come away again.

Joyce Goldenlily · May 2022

I would probably bin the violas, pansies and tulips and put the daffodil bulbs in the garden to die down naturally. You could try planting the pansies and violas in the garden and try reusing them again.

alexryzawlskiqBU-X4OF · May 2022

Trim the pansies as they get a bit wirey after winter. If you need the pot lift the bulbs and put them somewhere unused to die back then store.

*Astrantia* · May 2022

I’m in a similar situation I have clay pots that I now want to use for summer planting so is it best to try and transplant the spring bulbs into old plastic pots? & then if I wait for the leaves to die down how do I then store them ? In the plastic pots but under cover or Outside in the pots or do I dig them out of the pots and dry them & store in a box or bag?

I had some of the tulips in a plastic pot but they never flowered (lots of leaves though)could it be that the pot was too small not deep enough? I’d like to put them in the ground in the hope they may flower next year but I only have a tiny bit of border which I’ve filled now with other “stuff” I could try them in the grass but I have hard clay soil is it worth a go?

so many questions !

Plantminded · May 2022

I treat bulbs in lasagne type plantings as annuals and dispose of them once all the flowers have been and gone (in recycling bin so not entirely wasteful!). It's too much trouble digging up/replanting/storing them with no certainty that they will flower again. Bulbs are inexpensive and it's more fun to try new combinations each year!

Fairygirl · May 2022

I don't really do the lasagne thing @*Astrantia*, but as I mentioned earlier in the thread - it depends on the bulbs you have.
Daffs are pretty easy and you can pop those in a plastic pot and just tuck them away somewhere [labelled] outside and let them get on with it. A feed as they die back is always useful.
The type of tulip and the growing conditions will determine the success. If yours didn't flower, it could be because the bulbs weren't big enough , or they weren't planted deep enough. They all like a nice free draining medium, and decent enough hours of sun.

*Astrantia* · May 2022

Thanks Fairygirl for the advice, the ones that didn’t flower were small & in a small pot so no surprise there then! The tulips that have done well & are now just finishing are the ones I’d like to keep if I could , queen of night and a white one (can’t remember the name) but I’m supposing now they won’t flower either then next year? Even if I let them die down & keep them in a bag & re plant in early winter? Or keep them in a pot tucked away? I’ll definitely keep the daffs just put them in a plastic pot behind my shed, assume they’ll still need a bit of watering over the summer ? Like a lot of people money is short this year for me so I’m looking for ways not to spend on the garden I’ve grown lots from seed this year so only had the expense of compost, so I’m keen to keep as many bulbs as I can.

Fairygirl · May 2022

Queen of Night sometimes gets a few shows the following year for me, but it depends on the weather over winter. It's quite difficult here to get the right conditions for them all year round.
If I've had them potted, I stick them into the bed which has the best conditions I can offer. I tend to look at most of the 'big' tulips as annuals, and if I get a few the next year or the year after, it's a bonus. When storing them, the conditions have to be right, so I've never done it - I'm not convinced I can give them that.
If you want to try storing them, I think keeping them in a pot with some dry-ish compost, with a couple of feeds while they die back, and somewhere they'll get sun for the next couple of months, and not too much moisture, might be the best solution. If you have a cool spot for them after that until re planting, that's probably the ideal. Indoors might be needed - a cool cupboard or similar. I think some people keep them in a shed, but the shed would need to be consistently dry to avoid them rotting.
Maybe experimenting with them to see what works best would be worthwhile. I have some of the species ones in pots [I've had them a few years] and last year I kept them in the little greenhouse, after doing the feed etc. instead of just sheltering them up against the house wall, under the gas meter box. They were very good again this year, but I'm not convinced they'd have been any different if left outside in the usual way.

Bulb lasagne, what to do now…

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